Piper already has an LSA. It's called a "Cub." 

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I'm aware of that. 

It seems like they simply want to keep up with the market trends by introducing a new, fancy, small aircraft that they can get quite a bit of money from.

How popular are these types of aircraft really?  I mean, for 120,000 dollars, you can buy a really nice older 4 place airplane with a ton more flexibility than an LSA.  I see kit planes, older cessnas, pipers, etc. all the time at my local airfields, but the only place I've ever seen one of these new composite LSAs is at the airshows.  Obviously someone is buying them or these companies would not be investing in the production.  So, who's buying them??

specter177 wrote on Mar 2^nd, 2010 at 11:37am:


Not really much faster than a 172, as their top speed is limited.  The LSA concept, I believe, came around for the "more seasoned" pilots that could no longer pass a medical for various reasons, and just want the ability to beat around the pattern in their Cub, Luscombe, etc.  For new pilots, the reduction in training is minor compared to the full license.  And as far as the aircraft are concerned, you are correct.  The cheapest LSA still pushes $100,000, when a used Cessna or Piper with more range, payload, etc can be had for under $40,000.